Record-high temperatures set in Montgomery, Mobile just before official start of winter
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Saturday, Dec. 21 officially marks the beginning of winter but if you were out and about Tuesday and Wednesday, it felt like we were much further away from winter.
Several areas neared record-high temperatures this week but a couple of spots in Alabama officially hit the warmest ever for Dec. 18, according to the National Weather Service.
Keep reading to see what those new marks are + see how close other cities around the state got to their own records.
New records in south Alabama
The National Weather Service registered new record-highs this week in Mobile and Montgomery.
For Mobile, new record-highs were set for both Dec. 17 and Dec. 18.
On Tuesday, the city reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous record set in 1971 by two full degrees. Wednesday’s high got to 79, surpassing the previous record of 78 from 1967 and 2008.
The temperature hit 79 degrees Fahrenheit in Montgomery, making it the warmest temperature ever recorded for Dec. 18 in the city. It officially hit the high at 2:41PM Wednesday, tying the record which was previously set in 1984.
Since 1900, Montgomery’s average high for Dec. 18 is just 61 degrees. The average low is 38, 11 degrees lower than Wednesday’s low of 49.
Statewide heat
While records were reached in Mobile and Montgomery, the unusual warmth was experienced across the state. Here’s a look at some different temperatures around the state from Dec. 18 + how it compares to past recordings of the date:
- Anniston: Wednesday – 75 | Record – 76 | Average high – 56
- Birmingham: Wednesday – 75 | Record – 76 | Average high – 56
- Huntsville: Wednesday – 71 | Record – 74 | Average high – 54
- Muscle Shoals: Wednesday – 69 | Record – 74 | Average high – 54
- Troy: Wednesday – 78 | Average high – 61
- Tuscaloosa: Wednesday – 76 | Record – 78 | Average high – 57
Spots in the northern part of the state were on their way to record highs but temperatures were impacted by brief periods of rain early in the day.
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